YONHAP NEWS

Japan sees importance of making common history textbook with S. Korea, China

TOKYO, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) -- Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Wednesday it is "ideal" for South Korea, China and Japan to write a history textbook based on a common recognition of the history of the countries, a Japanese daily reported,
"Ideally in the future, we need to have a common history textbook for (Japan, China and South Korea)," Okada was quoted by the Sankei Shimbun as saying during his lecture at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.

   "As a first step toward the publication of the common textbook, the three countries are to implement a joint study of the history," Okada also said.

   It is the first time a Japanese government official has mentioned the necessity of publishing such a history textbook as a way to resolve issues surrounding Japanese history textbooks that critics say justify and beautify Japan's imperialist past.

   Japanese textbooks have drawn international criticism -- chiefly from South Korea and China -- for allegedly playing down Japan's wartime atrocities and glorifying its participation in World War II.

   Okada's remarks came ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's summit talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul on Friday and a trilateral summit meeting involving the leaders of the three Northeast Asian countries in Beijing the next day.

   The Japanese minister also stressed the importance of his government's pledge to support a 1995 statement by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama stating Japan inflicted tremendous damage and suffering on Asian and other countries "through its colonial rule and aggression."

   "But, in the past, some ministers made remarks that would run counter to the spirit of the Murayama pledge," Okada said, adding he will make efforts to ensure there will be no such remarks (from government officials).

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